This invention relates to a disposable diaper for absorption and containment of bodily discharges.
Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-11047A discloses an open-type disposable diaper made of a liquid-pervious topsheet, a liquid-impervious backsheet and a liquid-absorbent panel intermediated between these sheets so as to configure, in a longitudinal direction, a front waist region, a rear waist region and a crotch region extending between these two waist regions. The panel is provided with a pair of side flaps extending in the longitudinal direction outside transversely opposite side edges of the panel and with a pair of end flaps extending in a transverse direction outside longitudinally opposite ends of the panel. The diaper presents a substantially hourglass-like planar shape as the diaper is developed in a flat state.
The panel extends over the crotch region into the front and rear waist regions and is hourglass-shaped like the developed diaper. The panel is composed of front and rear sections extending in transversely middle zones of the front and rear waist regions so as to be associated with these front and rear waist regions, respectively, a crotch section extending in a transversely middle zone of the crotch region so as to be associated with the crotch region and a pair of wings extending transversely outward from the front and rear sections. The panel is a mixture of fluff pulp, super-absorbent polymer particles and thermoplastic synthetic resin fibers, entirely compressed to a desired thickness. As a result, stiffness of the panel is higher than that of the top- and backsheets.
To wear this diaper, the side flaps of the rear waist region may be placed upon the outer surfaces of the side flaps of the front waist region and then a pair of tape fasteners attached to the side flaps of the rear waist region may be anchored on the outer surface of the front waist region to connect the front and rear waist regions with each other. With the front and rear waist regions connected with each other, the diaper defines a waist-hole and a pair of leg-holes.
In the case of the diaper disclosed by the above-cited Application, the front and rear waist regions connected with each other in order to be put on the wearer's body certainly form an annulus fully surrounding the wearer's torso. However, the wings of the panel being having a stiffness higher than that of the top- and backsheets can not be smoothly bent in conformity with the contour of the wearer's torso. In other words, it is difficult to bring the wings in close contact with the wearer's torso. In this well-known diaper, it is likely that a gap might be left between the wings of the panel and the wearer's body and a bodily discharge absorbing capacity expected for these wings could not be fully utilized.